The verified answer
As of Sep 2026, DEPLOY verifies Tier IV: 1 model, 6 deployments across 1 region, $373.0M raised, 1 active incident. 1 source back the record.
CategoryRobotaxis
Overview
TIER IV is a Japanese deep-tech company and the primary commercial force behind Autoware, the world's first open-source software stack for autonomous driving. Founded in December 2015 by Shinpei Kato, the company builds scalable platforms and delivers end-to-end solutions spanning software development, vehicle manufacturing, and service operations for Level 4 autonomous mobility.
TIER IV has deployed autonomous buses, taxis, and trucks across Japan and internationally, and is a founding member of the Autoware Foundation. Strategic investors include Yamaha Motor, Sony, KDDI, and SOMPO Holdings. Products include Pilot.Auto, Web.Auto, and an automotive-grade autonomous driving kit (ADK).
Verified record
- Verified deployments
- 6 deployments on file
- Active incidents
- 1 incident on file
Valuation of record
Company-claimedPriced roundIPO post-money
Key facts
CEO
Founded
IPO
Total fundingsee investors →
Capital
Employees
Key investors
Data & sources
Press releases
1
1 source backing this record.View all →
Models (1)
View all models →Partnerships
Every company Tier IV has built with, alongside the ones only announced in a press release.
Most-frequent partners
- 1Astemo (Hitachi)1× joint
- 2Central Japan Railway Company (JR Central)1× joint
- 3eve autonomy1× joint
- 4Isuzu Motors1× joint
- 5Isuzu Motors Limited1× joint
- 6Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus1× joint
Most recent
- TIER IV x NVIDIA (autonomous driving)2026-03-16with NVIDIA Corporationoperating
- TIER IV x JR Central (Capital Alliance)2025-12-25with Central Japan Railway Company (JR Central)operating
- with Astemo (Hitachi)just announced
- TIER IV x Isuzu Motors2024-03-06with Isuzu Motors Limitedoperating
- with Isuzu Motorsoperating
Tier IV on the deployment map
View the global map6 verified deployments across 1 region, newest verified Apr 2025. Explore where Tier IV's robots are operating, by place and type.
- pilotAutoware at Shin-Tomei Expressway, Japan →East Asia · verified Apr 2025
- pilotAutoware at Kumamoto, Japan →East Asia · verified Mar 2025
- pilotAutoware at Higashi-Shinjuku Substation, Tokyo, Japan →East Asia · verified Nov 2024
- pilotAutoware at Japanese Airport (terminal transfer), Japan →East Asia · verified Jun 2024
- operationalAutoware at Komatsu, Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan →East Asia · verified Mar 2024
- pilotAutoware at Shiojiri, Nagano Prefecture, Japan →East Asia · verified Jan 2020
View the full Tier IV deployment record →
Relationships
Current leadership (4)
- Shinpei Kato Founder, Founder & CEO
- Yoshihito Takashima Chief Technology Officersecondary-verified
- Satoshi Sakaguchi CFOsecondary-verified
- Ko Miyoshi COOsecondary-verified
Founders (1)
- Shinpei Kato
later founded Autoware
Safety record
Only active incidents are counted. Retracted incidents are excluded from this summary but remain reachable at their canonical URLs.
Full safety record: incidents, sourcing, and exposure data →
Incidents affecting Tier IV (1)
- TIER IV autonomous bus rear-ended by public bus during Kumamoto test run2025-01-30 · Collision
Includes incidents linked directly to this company, to its models, or to deployments of its models or under its operation. Retracted incidents are excluded from this view but remain reachable at their canonical URLs.
Operator customers (1)
- Tier IV6 deployments
Brains developed (1)
- Autowareframework · production · open
Recent coverage
Tier IV in third-party press
Peer companies
Financial state
- Total funding
- $373.0M
- Employees
- 404
- Reporting basis
- private_reported
- Lifecycle stage
- growth
- Counterparty risk class
- low
Each numeric field carries its own basis marker. Aggregators report a number; this surface preserves the source class so verification depth travels with the value.
Partnerships
6 total · 5 operating · 1 just announced
Every company Tier IV has built with, alongside the ones only announced in a press release.
Most recent
- TIER IV x NVIDIA (autonomous driving)2026-03-16with NVIDIA Corporationoperating
- TIER IV x JR Central (Capital Alliance)2025-12-25with Central Japan Railway Company (JR Central)operating
- with Astemo (Hitachi)just announced
- TIER IV x Isuzu Motors2024-03-06with Isuzu Motors Limitedoperating
- with Isuzu Motorsoperating
Most-frequent partners
- 1Astemo (Hitachi)1× joint
- 2Central Japan Railway Company (JR Central)1× joint
- 3eve autonomy1× joint
- 4Isuzu Motors1× joint
- 5Isuzu Motors Limited1× joint
- 6Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus1× joint
All 6 partnerships
open in the atlas →- TIER IV x NVIDIA (autonomous driving)withNVIDIA Corporationtechnology2026-03-16operating
- TIER IV x JR Central (Capital Alliance)withCentral Japan Railway Company (JR Central)investment2025-12-25operating
- TIER IV x Isuzu MotorswithIsuzu Motors Limiteddeployment2024-03-06operating
- TIER IV x Isuzu x Mitsubishi Fuso (Autonomous Trucks)withIsuzu Motors,Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus,Yamato Multi Charter,Suzuyo Cargo-Netdevelopment2024-01-01operating
- joint venture2020-01-01operating
- TIER IV x Astemo (E2E autonomous driving)withAstemo (Hitachi)development2025-07-01announcedjust announced
Funding rounds (3)
Tier IV’s 3 disclosed rounds, $373M in total, oldest to newest.
- IPO2026-07-22
$141M(reported) · $1.4B post
Investors: Public Market (lead)
- Series B2024-06-17
$132M(reported) · $1.1B post
- Series A2019-07-03
$100M(reported) · $600M post
Investors: Sompo Japan Nipponkoa (lead), Yamaha Motor, KDDI Corporation, JAFCO, Aisan Technology
Timeline
Every recorded move in Tier IV’s history, most recent first: funding rounds, partnerships, acquisitions, supply-chain starts, key hires, and press.
Funding roundIPO funding round
2026-07-22IPO raising $141000000
PartnershipTIER IV x NVIDIA (autonomous driving)
2026-03-16TIER IV integrates NVIDIA DRIVE AGX Thor on the NVIDIA DRIVE Hyperion platform to power its Autoware-based Level 4 software stack for autonomous transit vehicles, announced at NVIDIA GTC 2026.
PartnershipTIER IV x JR Central (Capital Alliance)
2025-12-25TIER IV and Central Japan Railway Company (JR Central) formed a capital and business alliance to develop first- and last-mile autonomous mobility solutions connecting railway stations, supporting regional development and future integration with the Linear Chuo Shinkansen.
PartnershipTIER IV x Astemo (E2E autonomous driving)
2025-07-01TIER IV and Astemo (Hitachi's automotive systems subsidiary) signed an MoU to jointly develop a next-generation software platform for end-to-end autonomous driving AI with a Co-MLOps solution.
Funding roundSeries B funding round
2024-06-17Series B raising $132000000
PartnershipTIER IV x Isuzu Motors
2024-03-06TIER IV and Isuzu Motors formed a capital and business alliance to develop Level 4 autonomous driving systems for route buses. In March 2026, they announced deployment of Level 4 autonomous buses on Isuzu ERGA electric and diesel models powered by NVIDIA DRIVE Hyperion, unveiled at NVIDIA GTC 2026.
PartnershipTIER IV x Isuzu x Mitsubishi Fuso (Autonomous Trucks)
2024-01-01Under a METI-led initiative, TIER IV developed autonomous driving systems for highway logistics trucks manufactured by Isuzu Motors and Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus, successfully completing test runs on the Shin-Tomei Expressway with logistics operators Yamato Multi Charter and Suzuyo Cargo-Net.
PartnershipTIER IV x Yamaha Motor (eve autonomy JV)
2020-01-01In 2020, TIER IV and Yamaha Motor launched eve autonomy, a joint venture combining Tier IV's Autoware operating system and Yamaha's vehicle-body development technologies to address labor shortages and growing needs for high-mix, low-volume production in autonomous mobility.
Recent activity
Every change to this record is dated, sourced, and independently verified where marked.
- Record createdAug 9, 2026
Added to the verified registry
- Deployment verifiedVerifiedApr 27, 2025
Autoware at Shin-Tomei Expressway, Japan
- Deployment verifiedVerifiedMar 21, 2025
Autoware at Kumamoto, Japan
- Incident recordedJan 30, 2025
TIER IV autonomous bus rear-ended by public bus during Kumamoto test run
- Deployment verifiedVerifiedNov 1, 2024
Autoware at Higashi-Shinjuku Substation, Tokyo, Japan
Sources (1)
Common questions
What is Tier IV?
What does Tier IV make?
Is Tier IV publicly traded?
Who competes with Tier IV?
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How much funding has Tier IV raised?
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Where does Tier IV operate robots?
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Is Tier IV a top robotics company?
When was Tier IV founded?
Are there any incidents involving Tier IV?
Is Tier IV safe?
Methodology: Verified · 1 source (1 primary) · last reviewed 2026-08-21
Verification posture
Verified
High confidence
Review state
Stable
Last reviewed 2026-08-21
Sources by quality tier
- 1
- primary-company-ir
- Company IR disclosure
The framework is documented at /methodology. Corrections at /corrections. Reviewer: DEPLOY editorial team.
Methodology surface for Tier IV.In the press
Recent coverage mentioning Tier IV from third-party publications. Automatically surfaced; not part of the verified registry record.
Tier IV at Automotive World 2026 with ADAS and AI demos
Tier IV's Automotive World exhibits show how ADAS and autonomous vehicle development are sharing software and AI tooling The post Tier IV at Automotive World 2026 with ADAS and AI…
Tier IV to showcase integrated SDV solution at AW 2026
Tier IV will demonstrate an integrated AI, data, and computing solution for software-defined vehicles at Automotive World 2026 in September. The post Tier IV to showcase…
Tier IV and Renesas collaborate on open AI-native platform for SDVs
In the era of software-defined vehicles, software, AI and high-performance computing are increasingly shaping vehicle capabilities. As end-to-end AI models and automotive…
Autonomous & Self-Driving Vehicle News: Waymo, Google, Uber, Zipline, Pony.ai, XHEART, QNX, Baidu, TIER IV & Renesas
In autonomous and self-driving vehicle news are Waymo, Google, Uber, Zipline, Pony.ai, Verne, Momenta, XHEART, BlackBerry QNX, Baidu, TIER IV and Renesas. Waymo Named Official The…
Tier IV Autoware in OIN 2.0 for open-source patent safety
Tier IV Autoware joining OIN 2.0 shows open-source AV software patent risk has become a commercial barrier for the ecosystem The post Tier IV Autoware in OIN 2.0 for open-source…
Tier IV Autoware to run on Renesas R-Car Gen 5 in SDV deal
The Tier IV Autoware reference on Renesas silicon shows open-source AD software is now competing for the SDV platform role The post Tier IV Autoware to run on Renesas R-Car Gen 5…
Automotive AI Newsletter – August 17 2026
Hyundai scales AI across its global operations, Tier IV develops an open-source Level 4 driving chip, and Ford brings an AI assistant to millions of vehicle owners. The post…
Software-Defined Vehicle Newsletter – August 17 2026
Honda reportedly outsources development of a new vehicle platform, Stoneridge targets centralized commercial vehicle architectures, and Tier IV plans an open-source Level 4…
Software-defined AI chip project advances Level 4 autonomy
Tier IV has joined the Next-Generation Edge AI Semiconductor Research and Development Program led by the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) to advance research and…
Autonomous & Self-Driving Vehicle News: PlusAI, Waymo, Witherite Law Group, Uber Japan, Hinomaru Kotsu, Pony.ai, Uber & TIER IV
In autonomous and self-driving vehicle news are PlusAI Advances Commercial Readiness Metrics Ahead of 2027 Autonomous Truck Scale PlusAI has published updated commercial readiness…
Tier IV to open-source Level 4 autonomous driving chip
By open-sourcing chip logic alongside software, Tier IV is testing whether hardware can be commoditised the way code has been The post Tier IV to open-source Level 4 autonomous…
Automotive AI Newsletter – 10 August 2026
Tier IV and Astemo target E2E driving AI, Tesla plans its US$16.8bn Terafab, and FSD v14 Lite raises concerns for HW3 vehicles. The post Automotive AI Newsletter – 10 August 2026…
Machine-readable surfaces
- Markdown mirror: /companies/tier-iv.md
- RSS feed: /companies/tier-iv/feed.xml
- JSON-LD: embedded in this page’s head
- REST API: /v1/companies/8c8a9f0b-110b-4d16-aad1-20798e85da1b
- Revision history: /companies/tier-iv/history
- Data documentation: /data
- Query this programmatically: Deploy MCP
Video
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#TIERIV #autonomousdriving #Autoware #opensource #AI TIER IV stands at the forefront of deep-tech innovation, pioneering Autoware, open-source software for au
#TIERIV #autonomousdriving #Autoware #opensource #AI TIER IV stands at the forefront of deep-tech innovation, pioneering Autoware, open-source software for au
TIER IV stands at the forefront of deep-tech innovation, pioneering Autoware, open-source software for autonomous driving. With a comprehensive suite of platfor
Join us as we dive into the world of autonomous vehicles with TIER IV, a leading software company dedicated to revolutionizing the automotive industry. In this
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Heat Index
Category contender87/100
A composite of competitive footprint, funding, press velocity, active partnerships, and supply-chain edges. Different from the Intelligence score below (which is per-form-factor productization). Non-robotics companies cap at 25.
Reality vs attention
Tier IV draws attention at the 83rd percentile but verifies reality at the 69th percentile among AVs. Hype Gap +13.6, 19th widest among AVs.
6-month trend
Analysis
Safety profile within acceptable range for category. Well-capitalized with $373M raised and recent funding activity. Deployment footprint remains limited relative to category peers.
Signal flags
Dimension breakdown
Verified signal
Attention (reach, not merit)
DEPLOY Intelligence scores are computed from verified registry data: confirmed deployments, disclosed funding rounds, regulatory filings, active job listings, video viewership, and press coverage. Confidence ratings reflect data availability. Scores update nightly.
DEPLOY Indices — verified vs claimed
Last computed: Sep 25, 2026